CHAPTER SIX
Garrick
I wake up with a smile on my face from the delicious dream I’d been having about Blue. We were at her apartment together, just like we were three days ago, but instead of crying, she’d grabbed my head, pulled me down, and kissed the hell out of me. Then, just like she has in my dreams every night since I decorated her apartment, she stripped me bare and we had a hate fuck to end all hate fucks.
Demon might be ruining my life, but she’s also giving me the best dreams of my entire life.
Those tears when I left her place, well I try not to think about them. She didn’t want to talk to me about it, and that’s the way it should be. I don’t need to get to know her. I just need to get her to do what I want and, since she’s not doing that, I need to get her out of the mayor’s office.
I stretch and glance at my phone. I blink at it, confused, in that sleepy state between sleep and waking. Then my heart flips over and my mouth goes dry.
“Shit.” Shit, shit, shit. I’m late. I’m so fucking late.
I throw myself out of bed and sprint, naked, to the bathroom. I must have forgotten to set an alarm on my phone. It wouldn’t be the first time, but I’m an early riser and usually up in plenty of time without an alarm.
I usually have time for tea and meditation, time to prepare my brain and body for the day ahead.
Not today. After three nights of dreams about Blue, including frequent wake-ups to take care of the desire flooding my body by taking myself in hand, I’m sleep-deprived and a live-wire of horniness.
After a call into headquarters and a request to delay our clients, I sprint through my shower, dress while I’m still wet, and grab a protein bar on my way out the door. I’m moving so fast, I almost don’t clock what’s been done to my truck.
The sight makes me step back, right into a snowbank, wetting the bottom of my pants leg and shoving cold snow into my boot. My truck has been covered in Christmas lights and there’s a sticker of a Christmas tree with a line through it on the driver’s side door.
I walk around the truck to see someone has written in white on the rear window, ‘I hate Christmas.’ On the tailgate, someone has used black tape to spell out Bah Humbug.
There’s only one person who could have done this. I’m chuckling at her ingenuity, and relieved because this means she’s clearly over whatever was upsetting her the last time I saw her, even as I’m beyond annoyed about how long it’s going to take me to clean this up. On the passenger side door is another Christmas tree sticker, and there’s a stuffed devil strapped to my front grill.
So fitting for my demon nemesis.
I’m already beyond late for my meeting, so I don’t have time to remove all her junk.
My only option is to hold my head high and pretend I love my truck this way.
I also take every back road I know. It takes me twice as long to get to work, but at least I minimize how many people see me. There are already enough people in this town who judge me as an outsider who doesn’t belong. I don’t need them thinking I hate Christmas.
I find the last parking spot right behind the building and I hop out, hoping no one has seen me.
I love the headquarters of Evergreeen Expeditions. I only own about an acre of land, but it’s all mine. As is the building on it. An eco-friendly, hyper-efficient log cabin where all our tours get arranged and started.
I’ve just made it to the front of my truck when Lindsay walks around the side of the building in snowshoes. “Hey boss,” she says with a wave as a family of four emerges behind her.
“Morning, Lindsay.” I hurry toward her, hoping she doesn’t notice the Christmas nightmare behind me.
She stares at my truck, totally ignoring me. “What happened? Did you get into a fight with Christmas?”
“It’s a prank.” I force a smile. “Played on me by a friend with a very poor sense of humor.”
Her brow creases, and she tilts her head to the side. “I know all of your friends. I didn’t think any of them were this mean.”
“I’m late for a meeting.” I hurry past her and the family with her, who are now also staring at my truck. “I’ll get that cleaned up later.”
“It’s okay to hate Christmas, Garrick,” she calls after me. “You’re not alone.”
Damn it. I’m going to have to get Blue to publicly declare herself as the guilty party in order for anyone to believe I don’t actually hate Christmas.
I snort because that’s never going to happen.
The clients from Horizon Solutions are in our small conference room. They’re dressed in business suits and looking like they’re two seconds away from growing fangs and claws and attacking everyone in the place.
I’m a teensy bit obsessed with paranormal romance. Especially when vampires are involved. I had a girlfriend who loved those vampire romance movies when I was a teenager. She grew out of them, but I never did.
It was one of my best-kept secrets until Blue discovered that book in my lunch box. Not that I’m embarrassed, though I have gotten more than enough shit about it for a lifetime, but reading paranormal romance hardly fits what clients expect from their wilderness guide.
Tony is dressed for his snowmobiling tour that starts in twenty minutes. The relief on his face when he catches sight of me is palpable. His whole body melts.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” I hurry into the room and Tony makes a quick exit.
“I hope this isn’t a sign of what to expect from you when there are thirty executives waiting to be taken on a wilderness expedition,” a woman in a business suit, who I’m assuming is Sonya Biggs, the person I’ve been speaking to about this expedition, taps perfectly manicured nails on the table.
“Absolutely not.” I shove my hands in my pockets to stop them from shaking. Give me a grizzly sighting during a camping trip or an injured client and I’m calm, cool, and competent. Give me unhappy executives who are seconds away from going to my competitor and sweat breaks out along my hairline, my hands shake, and my stomach roils. “I had an emergency situation this morning, but I can assure you we’ll be prepared and ready to go on the twenty-eighth. Your executives will be talking about this expedition for months. Probably years.”
The two execs from Horizon Solutions frown, unimpressed. One of them is a man who looks to be my age, with a close-cropped dark hair and a neatly styled short beard. Sonya is the HR manager, and probably a few years older than me. Her red hair is up in a tight bun and her green eyes flash with energy. I’m certain either of them could take me in a fight.
“If that’s not the case, we’ll expect a full refund,” Sonya says.
“Of course.”
“We’ve already called your competitor in Sugar Valley, but they have no bookings for that day. We can’t find another expedition in the area, but we won’t hesitate to cancel if we get the slightest indication you aren’t taking us seriously or that you can’t provide the VIP experience we’ve been promised.”
“I understand.” Thankfully, Tony has already set their file on the table. I take a seat and open it. He’s got their business cards right on top. I was right about Sonya. The man is Aaron Jeffries, the Chief Operating Officer. “Why don’t we go over the exact plan for the expedition and confirm everything is to your liking?”
They nod and we get started. This is the largest expedition I’ve ever led, and it’s going to require hiring on several more people to help. It’ll bring in more money than we’ve ever made from one expedition, but the risk is high. If anything goes wrong at all, these people have the power to spread the word and ruin my business.
It’s a risk worth taking to take Evergreen Expeditions from a small town business to a destination.
By the time they leave, an hour and a half later, they seem tentatively happy. Now, I just have to deliver on the twenty-eighth, three days after Christmas in the middle of our busiest season.
***
I’ve removed most of the stupid stuff Blue put on my truck by the time I park in the lot outside her apartment, but the words on the rear window will require a good scrubbing to remove. I don’t have time for that. Revenge needs to happen tonight.
This war between us has to end before one of us goes too far and reputations are ruined. I have to do something so memorable and shocking she gets scared and backs off.
Her car’s not in the lot, and the windows of her apartment are dark. She’s not home.
I settle in to wait, watching the entrance to the lot for her small SUV. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do yet. Hopefully, it’ll hit me when I see her.
But maybe that’s not the best plan.
I open the notes app on my phone and start brainstorming ideas. I’ve gotten as far as breaking into her place and putting saran wrap over the toilet when my phone vibrates with an incoming call.
I answer, because I don’t believe in ignoring my family. No matter how obnoxious and irritating they can be.
“Garrick,” my brother Hudson says cheerfully. “How’s it going out there in the wilds of the Christmas that never ends?”
Hudson is my favorite sibling, or at least the one who’s best at keeping in touch and gives me the least shit about my life choices.
“It’s great. You’d know that if you ever visited.”
He snorts. “The only reason I’d ever visit is to see you, and you never have time for me.”
If this was one of my other siblings, I’d think they were laying a guilt trip on me, but Hudson’s not like that. He’s straightforward sunshine. “Or you’re too busy to come out here. Mom and Dad ever going to let you have some time off?”
“The CFO never gets time off, baby brother. And why would I want it? I love numbers the way you love trees and weeds.”
I laugh. “Something I will never understand. Thanks for looking over my books last month, by the way. I never would have found that error without your help.”
“You’ve already thanked me and I’ve already told you it was fun for me. Quit stalling. You know why I’m calling.”
“And you know what I’m going to say. Christmas is just as hectic for me as it is for you. I can’t get away.” Because Christmas is the busy season for my family’s business, we’ve always celebrated the holiday the second week of December.
It’s weird, but it’s tradition. As kids, we believed Santa was just as busy as our parents on Christmas day. By getting our presents on a different day we were giving Santa a break he’d be grateful to get. So grateful, he might give us more presents.
Having a business of my own now, it’s become painfully clear that our parents could have managed to take a few days off for the holiday if they’d really wanted to and made it a priority. They certainly had enough staff to cover for them.
“And I know that’s bullshit,” he says. “I get why you don’t want to come home. And I can’t promise you Mom and Dad won’t spend the entire time you’re here mocking your business and telling you what an idiot you are for leaving. In fact, I can promise you that’s exactly what they’ll do, but you should be here. We all miss you. And Mom and Dad love you, they’re just misguided. They really believe your guide business is just a blip and you’ll be back here as a ski instructor by next year.”
The fact they think I can best contribute to the family business as a ski instructor is a big part of the problem. They still see me as the wild, irresponsible kid I used to be. I haven’t given them much reason to think I’ve changed, but they haven’t tried to get to know adult me, either. “I’ll visit in the summer.” When I can stay for a few hours and leave.
“Mom and Dad are thinking about retiring.”
That sucks the air right out of my lungs. I can’t have heard him right. “What?”
“They want to travel and spend more time with their grandkids. Maisey’s been struggling since the divorce and Mom and Dad want to be able to help her out.”
My sister is a very young mom to two-year-old twins. She married her high school sweetheart before she’d even finished college and it was a rocky, unhappy marriage. The divorce was a relief to all of us, except Maisey. My singular regret in not getting home more often is not getting to see more of my niece and nephew.
“They don’t mean it,” I say. “They’ll toss the idea around for a few weeks, but you know they won’t be able to retire.”
“Dad just turned seventy, man. He’s not getting around as well as he used to, and Mom wants to travel with him while he still can.”
My chest gets tight at the thought. As frustrated as I am with my parents, I can’t picture my six foot five, muscular, active father getting frail. “You aren’t just fucking with me to get me to come home? You really think they’re retiring?”
“Cal’s been champing at the bit for years to take over as CEO and Maisey has some ideas she wants to implement about redesigning the chateaus that she can’t do as long as Mom’s around. You know Mom thinks nothing can change or people will stop coming back to ski here.”
“Yeah, I do know.” Maisey’s called me often enough to vent. “What I don’t see is how that necessitates my presence at Christmas.”
“Mom and Dad are worried about you, bro. They don’t feel they can truly retire as long as you’ve flown the nest. They want you working for the company, secure in your position on their watch. If you want them off your back, you need to make them believe you’ve got an undeniably good reason to stay in Yuletide. It’s the only way they’ll accept it.”
“There’s nothing I can tell them, because they don’t want to accept reality. They’ll never be happy until I’m back in the family business.”
“There’s got to be something.” Holden’s tone goes distant like he’s thinking. “Maybe a unique mountain view or a type of fish that can only be found in Yuletide… Nah, that doesn’t work.” He pauses. “I’ve got it. You need a Yuletide girlfriend. The kind of girlfriend who’s committed to staying in Yuletide and never leaving. Maybe someone with a lot of family there?”
Shit. What he’s saying is making sense. I really don’t want it to make sense. I’m in no mood to get grief about my business from my family, especially since the success of Evergreen Expeditions is teetering toward doom at the moment. Unfortunately, retirement would be what’s best for my parents and my siblings, and I still care about what’s best for all of them. No matter how much I don’t want to.
I open my mouth to say I have no idea what, when Blue walks past the front of my truck toward her apartment. She’s wearing a skirt or a dress that’s so short her ass would be revealed with one gust of wind. It’s a ridiculous thing to be wearing in this cold, even if she’s got a puffy coat over her top half.
The sky-high heels she’s got on are also ridiculous, even if her long, shapely legs look amazing in them.
What I like least of all about her outfit are the two over-muscled pretty boys wrapped around her, the three of them laughing together as they walk away from me.
“Hud, I’ve got to go. I’ll consider your request.”
“All I can ask for.”
I hang up, grab what I need from the back of my truck, and take off at a sprint for Blue’s apartment.